Semifinal 1 Review

Last night we saw the first act of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. As usual the first semi si full of organising small errors that we are sure will be corrected for semi 2 and the final. The broadcast though lacked something..?! we are not sure what…It didn’t manage to catch the excitement, the drama and the tension of Eurovision. Or maybe it was the audience that was the problem…we don’t know , but if you will whatch it on TV again ..you’ll know what I mean. Apart from that, we love the stage…it’s unique and fun, and it has so much potential. The hosts were fun enough, but toooo well behaved. We would have thought that they will push some boundaries, but no…they chose to go safe. Anyway they are soo cute, all 3 of them, and the idea with 3 male performers works just fine. The opening was ….hmmm…we could have lived without it, plus, given the fact that Jamala performed twice, she could have easily open the contest with ” 1944″…and in the interval sing her new single. Anyway it is not for us to judge, we are just saying… 😛 No offence to Monatik who were very good on stage, but we think it wasn’t their place to open the Eurovision 😛 Now to the performances:

1. Robin Bengtsson – I Can’t Go On (Sweden)

Robin delivers his song perfectly, with a very slick perfomance, but totaly “fake” as far as we are concerned. A nice entry but it lacks passion and spirit. Unlike the majority of the sweedish entries who are just amazing. Maybe he was just nervous 😛

2. Tamara Gachechiladze – Keep The Faith (Georgia)

Too good for this semifinal. Honestly I would have gone with this one anytime to the final. We weren’t sure if she would qulify, …she didn’t after all , but the point is she did her job amazingly, and there is nothing more she could have done. Perfect performance…with a very intense crescendo towards the finish…Better that Australia , if you ask me.

3. Isaiah – Don’t Come Easy (Australia)

Too much buzz around Australia this year, it’s a nice song, but it lacks power…star power. We are very curious what place did it got in the smifinal. Completly forgotten among the others.

4. Lindita – World (Albania)

Nice voice, and a nice song, but the presentation and the dress were …not good. Too busy on the screens, and the dress was doing nothing to lady. She got lost in all the mess…we would have went for something more simple, and tastefull.

5. Blanche – City Lights (Belgium)

Either Blanche was scared..like really scared, or she is incapapble to transmit anything. We understand the ideea of an emotionless performance, but she went too far. Her voice and the song on the other hand, are making all the difference. Very good song , and unique voice.

6. Slavko Kalezić – Space (Montenegro)

OMG, What was this?… We are soo oopen to the ideea he presented on stage. Loved the outfit , and the whole concept, but for this kind of performance one would need star power not to mention tons of talent to suppport that . This is not the case 🙁 … Nice try though!

7. Norma John – Blackbird (Finland)

Not good enough apprently. Too bad cause this song had potential.

8. Dihaj – Skeletons (Azerbaijan)

Very interesting performance, nice coreography and staging, very contemporary. She needs to work a bit more on the ” x factor” though, I didn’t belive her all the way. It gets messy towards the end, but the final pose, and they way the whole thing is captured on camera helps very much.

9.Salvador Sobral – Amar Pelos Dois (Portugal)

Winner from our point of view. Weird enough to keep you guessing, and lyrical enough to get a tear down your face. Congratz Salvador!

10. Demy – This Is Love (Greece)

This entry is what Eurovision is all about. Beauty, amazing backdrop, half naked men, a small water pool…and a not very “clean” song. But Demy compensates all this by here stage presence and the way Fokas Evangelinos saw this moment is brilliant. Eurovision pure bait! Bravo Greece!

11. Kasia Moś – Flashlight (Poland)

Big surprise for many, Poland got through the semifinal. Amazing voice, and a decent song. The dress is just wrong, another bridal coture on the Eurovision stage. No originality here. But again Congratulations to the singer on a very professional performance.

12. Sunstroke Project – Hey Mamma (Moldova)

Happiness and joy, …and a sax 🙂 Nice one from Moldova, although the “foot” in the coreography..is a bit too much. They managed to create a relaxed atmosphere on stage and towards the end this one gets really good. The sax session from the break time in the green room was such a nice ideea. Good job Moldova!

13. Svala – Paper (Iceland)

Such a clean performance, very professional. The outfitt killed this one..I tell you! This song should have qualified!

14. Martina Bárta – My Turn (Czech Republic)

From my point of view, it was the seccond best song in this semifinal. The lyrics and the melody, just amazing. The backdrop on the other hand was too much for Europe, I am sure. The half naked people wondering around, interactig with each other was apparently too blunt and out front… but hey! Eurovision needs that. We usualy go wild for every “crap” gimmick on stage, but when it comes to really apreciate a tastefull piece of art, we back off. This is hypocrisy from most of us, but nobody wants to admit it. Perhaps the outfitt killed this one too, cause it was not what it’s suppoose to be. Otherwise hats off for this one!

15. Hovig – Gravity (Cyprus)

Pure magic, this is what Hovig did on stage. Well not him, but the team behind the concept of the staging. And the TV crew just made the most of it. It looked amazing on TV, so well connected, and soooo on point. Not the best vocals tonight, but the atmosphere he created with this performance, got him through te semifinal defying gravity. Congratulatios Cyprus and Bravo Hovig !!!!!

16. Artsvik – Fly With Me (Armenia)

I expected to like this one more. Decent song, very ethnic-modern vibe, but the costumes have nothing to do with the song. They wanted to give it a nice modern edge with the costumes…something doesn’t click there. Otherwise the performance was very good, visualy and vocaly. Congratulations Armenia!

17. Omar Naber – On My Way (Slovenia)

Nope…and nope. Too bad because it looked stunning on TV. Congratulations to the technical crew behind this. Just amazing use of lights…but sometimes not even this helps a song qualify. Omar did his jos very good though!

18. Triana Park – Line (Latvia)

Loved this song on the CD. It is in my playlist already. I expected so much more vocaly speaking. I couldn’t virtualy understand the words. Visualy is looked stunning, with all the colors, and projections, and costumes, and the outfits…it had every reason to be in the final. But in past years Eurovision changed a little bit from my point of view. It got classy-er 😀

Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

Jamala was stunning as usual, she comes from a diffrenet era, and obviously lives in a different artistic space than the rest of us. She is such an intense artsit, and she proved once again why she won last year. Good Job Jamala! Here is her new single:

Good job Ukraine for the first semifinal. We expect it to get better for the seccond!!